Here you will find the Ramblings of an overly enthusiastic, overly stressed, and overly verbose Mad Stitcher. I will be sharing my thoughts on life, stitching, books, travels and generally anything that pops into my mind. You will also be able to read my little stories. I love to write short stories of all types and will enjoy sharing them with you here.
Come join me for a laugh or two and maybe a tear or two as well.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

After my wonderful week with the girls, it was really hard to get back to life as we know it. I had insurance companies and power chair companies to deal with and we all know what that is like. It became obvious to me that it might be a while before I would be able to get another vehicle.My wonderful son took me out to dinner for Thanksgiving and that was a treat. Other than that it was a very quiet and uneventful day here. I have been stitching trying to get caught up with some models I have to finish and I have been working on my new releases for the February Needlework Market in Nashville.Christmas was very quiet for us. My step-daughter and her children and grandchildren cam by on December 14th and that was the highlight for me. The grand-kids are growing up entirely too fast! Jason and I spent Christmas Day relaxing and watching Christmas movies on TV. I was able to get a lot of stitching done this week. Now I was planning for the Stitching Sisters to come New Year's weekend for our Christmas get-together. That will be my real Christmas!Kiki got here on Thursday afternoon Dec 30th and we got to catch up a bit before the others arrived. We laughed and stitched and watch DVD's until the wee hours of the morning. Angel got here about 11:00am and Angela arrived about 12:00 noon. We ate lunch and homemade fudge brought by Kiki and laughed and celebrated.About 4:00 pm we decided to have our gift exchange. I was truly blessed with all that I was given.

From Angel I got a beautiful snakeskin bag, several boxes and tins to use with my stitching, a micro-suede lap throw, a tie set which I will talk about in another post, a box of chocolates in the special Whitman's Sampler stitcher's tin and a lovely stitched needlebook and scissors fob to match the Tag she made me last year--in red, of course!

Angela gave me three nesting trays that she had made for me with felted bottoms to protect my treasures. She also gave me two sets of beaded counting pins and a beaded bookmark that she also made.

Kiki's gift to me was a combination birthday and Christmas gift. She made me a strip quilted jacket and purse set in my favorite colors--black, white, and red--with touches of yellow and gray. It is so beautiful! I will try to get some photos up tomorrow.

We missed Tracy this year but hopefully she will be able to join us again next year.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Sorry it has been awhile since I was here, but things just went a little haywire for me. I am still without a car so I have been having to borrow a vehicle when I need to go somewhere. The insurance company finally settled but they did not come close to giving me what my car was worth and they refused to cover my chair and lift. So it will be a while before I can get something else.

Now the rest of the story....We had a marvelous time at our retreat. We arrived in Myrtle Beach only 5 hours later than anticipated. When we got to the room Kiki and Jeannie went to a get together with a few other stitchers but I decided to stay in the condo and rest. I was very sore and beginning to feel a lot of pain so I went to bed early.

On Friday morning, Kiki and Jeannie went shopping. They hit a couple of quilt shops and Walmart. That afternoon we went to the hotel for the retreat introduction and then to dinner with another group of stitchers. Without my chair it was very difficult for me to get around so we stayed at the hotel and had a wonderful meal. The retreat officially started at 7:00pm and Meg Shinal was as wonderful as ever. We did introductions and show and tell then began our practice piece. As I've mentioned in the past our projects for the last 11 years has been the different moon series. This year--our twelfth--is Christmas Moon. Our practice piece was using the Armenian Interlacing stitch, the Danish Stars and Algerian Eyelets. We finished this stitched piece into a small pocket for a perpetual calendar.

We got back to the room about 10:30 and stayed up stitching and talking till about 1:00 am.

On Saturday morning we began our class project and it was great as usual. Meg does such wonderful classes and this was no exception. Everyone was so thoughtful and helpful to me. I know I could never have made it though without their help. After our lunch break at the hotel (delicious food, great service, and we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously!) we had a break for the afternoon. Some of the girls went shopping again but I went back to the condo and rested for a while. I stitched on my class project and made great progress on it.

On Saturday Evening we had a wonderful skit with Nancy reminding us all of *Moons past* and reviewomng the last twelve years at Seaside. It was hilarious and nostalgic at the same time. We played a couple of games and did our ornament exchange and then said goodnight for the evening. Back in our condo I finished up my Christmas Moon.

On Sunday morning after our devotional, goodbyes were said and a bonus *Blue Moon Design* was given to us along with our retreat charm. It was a great retreat and I cannot wait to see what Meg comes up with for next year now that all the Moon are complete.

Kiki, Jeannie and I were staying a few extra days so I was able to get lots of rest and relaxation before coming home to the real world once more. However, it didn't take long for reality to set in once I got home to Chesnee.

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About Me

I am a retired nurse that has become a professional stitcher. I model stitch for several well known designers as well as doing consignment stitching. I have recently begun my own design company--Lady K Needlearts-- and have several cross stitch designs available. I am a widow and have an adult son who is the light of my life.

Stitched Needlework Art & Consignment Pieces

SPECIAL ORDER only!

The MadStitcher now offers consignment stitching and Needlework Art pieces for sale. Needlework Art is completely stitched, but not framed or finished needlework design pieces, unless otherwise noted. These are heirloom quality needlework pieces which are stitched on high quality fabrics.

The pieces are ready to frame or finish. They can be taken to your local needlework shop or frame shop for appropriate finishing. All pieces will come to you with a list of suggestions and ideas for finishing and/or displaying the piece.

All will arrive with a certificate stating the design name, company name, the designers name, who stitched the piece and the year purchased.

*** Consignment pieces will not be stitched until ordered with a 1/2 of the price down payment, which can be made by cashier's check, money order or by using PayPal. The pieces will take anywhere from 2-9 months to stitch. Please ask for length of stitching time estimates. You may make payments each month based upon the estimated time for stitching, again please ask for details. Payment if full is expected before the piece is mailed.

Once an order has been placed, the first payment has to be made before the stitching will commence. The first payment is for buying the stitching supplies and therefore is non-refundable unless agreed to by me and a 10% cancellation fee will be applied.

Personalizing pieces such as wedding samplers, birth samplers and Christmas Stockings, are included in the cost. However, if other pieces are personalized an extra charge will be added. Finishing is also extra. No framing will be done.

Samplers which normally have the needle workers initials and the date stitched will be stitched using the initials of the stitcher and the date completed.

For pricing and more information about consignment stitching please email me at kathy@madstitcher.com.